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Former CNN host Don Lemon suggested some of the outrage after he followed a group of anti-ICE agitators who stormed into a St. Paul church came from “religious groups” who feel “entitled” due to White supremacy.
Lemon, an independent journalist since being fired by CNN in 2023, has been documenting the Minnesota chaos following the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good. On Sunday, he entered the Cities Church during a service along with anti-ICE agitators and began filming, telling viewers that “the freedom to protest” is what the First Amendment is all about.
Though Lemon has been put “on notice” by the Justice Department, he stood by his reporting and agreed with “I’ve Had It” podcast host Jennifer Welch on Monday that the backlash against him is being used to intimidate him as an “independent, gay, Black, happy, successful man.”
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Don Lemon has been criticized for following anti-ICE protesters into a church service. (Don Lemon/YouTube)
“The whole point of it is they’re detaining people on the streets because of accents and the color of their skin,” Lemon said. “And they’re also targeting people of color and Black people, as well as Brown people, so there is a certain degree of racism there.”
He added that there’s also a level of “entitlement” that comes from certain religious groups, though it was unclear whether he included members of Cities Church.
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“I think people who are, you know, in the religious groups like that, it’s not the type of Christianity that I practice, but I think that they’re entitled, and that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a White supremacy,” Lemon said.
Anti-ICE protesters targeted the Cities Church on Sunday, shouting down churchgoers in the middle of services. (Facebook/DawokeFarmer2)
Despite his viral coverage of the protest, Lemon expressed surprise that he became “the face” of the protest, insisting that he was not aware the protesters planned to enter a church. He suggested the attention to him was also a move to stoke a “racist” base.
“I said, ‘How did I become the face of this?’ And my producer said, ‘Don, you’re a gay Black man in America and you have a platform, and you’re the biggest name. Of course, you’re going to be the person that they single out, and they’re going to make the headline because it plays to their base. And their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes,'” Lemon said.
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Digital reached out to Lemon for comment.
Don Lemon stood by his reporting in a comment to Digital after his video went viral. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
In a statement after the video was published, Lemon claimed that he has since faced “violent threats” directed at him “by MAGA supporters and amplified by parts of the right-wing press” for his reporting.
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“If this much time and energy is going to be spent manufacturing outrage, it would be far better used investigating the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good— the very issue that brought people into the streets in the first place,” Lemon said. “I stand by my reporting.
‘ Brian Flood and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.
